1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to instruments for impacting an object, and is directed more particularly to an iron type golf club head weighted for improved performance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Attempts at improving the performance of golf clubs has produced a myriad of concepts, directed for the most part to improved distance through which a hit ball will travel and improved accuracy in both putting and driving.
One aspect of improvement has been in the area of weight distribution in iron type heads and on approach that has been used is peripheral or perimeter weighting, that is, locating weight around the periphery or perimeter of the club head. Peripheral weighting provides a cavity, or recess, centrally located in the back of the club head. An example of peripheral weighting may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,813, issued Nov. 11, 1986 to Karsten Solheim.
Others, rather than dispersing weight around the periphery of a club head, have elected to concentrate weight midway of the club head, or at a point approximately behind the center of percussion. An example of such an arrangement may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,087,685, issued July 20, 1937 to Clarence W. Hackney. The Hackney club head is essentially a flat blade with a bulbous weight member on the rear of the blade.
Still others have combined the perceived advantages of peripheral weighting with the perceived additional advantages of distributing weight within the cavity formed by peripheral weighting. Examples of such club heads may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,437, issued June 14, 1974 in the name of S. William Winquist: U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,808. issued Oct. 26, 1982, in the name of Doyle D. Jernigon; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,172, issued May 2, 1989 in the name of Anthony J. Antonious. The Winquist patent shows a club head provided with perimeter weighting and, in addition, integral ribbing extending within the cavity at the rear of the club head, the ribbing being in the form of letters or symbols. Jernigon disposes a number of small weights along the bottom edge of the cavity and fills the cavity with epoxy. The object of Jernigon's invention is to tailor a club to an individual golfer's swing. The Antonious patent shows the use of perimeter weighting and weight members within the cavity, but removed from the center of percussion. The Antonious arrangement is said to assist the player most particularly with respect to miss-hit balls, that is, balls struck off the center of percussion of the club head.